Trump says he told son Eric not to testify at fraud trial

Former President Trump says he directed his second eldest son, Eric Trump, to not testify once more within the New York fraud trial threatening the household’s enterprise empire.

“Eric has already testified, PERFECTLY…so there is no such thing as a cause to waste any extra of this Crooked Court docket’s time on having him say the identical factor, time and again, as a witness for the protection (us!),” Trump wrote Tuesday night on Reality Social. “His younger life has already been unfairly disturbed and disrupted sufficient on this corrupt Witch Hunt.”

Eric Trump was anticipated to take the witness stand Wednesday for the second time earlier than his counsel reversed course. His brother Donald Trump Jr. testified for a second time final month, the place he painted an idyllic image of the Trump Group and his father’s actual property ventures.

Trump lawyer Alina Habba mentioned in a Tuesday night assertion that Eric Trump’s testimony is “not wanted” after Deutsche Financial institution representatives and different specialists confirmed the financial institution needed to work with former President Trump and carried out its due diligence on key monetary statements, a core protection argument all through the trial.

“The report can’t be extra clear,” she mentioned.

Eric Trump distanced himself from the monetary statements on the coronary heart of the case when he testified earlier within the trial, saying he “by no means had something to do with the assertion of monetary situation.”

However state lawyer Andrew Amer later pointed to a 2013 e-mail Eric Trump acquired from one other firm govt asking for info wanted to fill out former President Trump’s monetary assertion, based on The Related Press.

“So you probably did learn about your father’s annual monetary assertion as of August 2013?” Amer requested.

“It seems that method,” Eric Trump mentioned.

Former President Trump, the Trump Group and a number of other executives, together with Trump’s grownup sons, had been sued by New York Lawyer Common Letitia James final 12 months. The lawsuit claimed they falsely adjusted the worth of the enterprise’s property to obtain decrease taxes and higher insurance coverage protection. 

Decide Arthur Engoron already discovered them chargeable for fraud, and the trial — which started in October — is addressing different claims of conspiracy, insurance coverage fraud and falsifying enterprise data. Former President Trump is anticipated to take the witness stand Monday because the protection’s final witness.